This invention relates to a process for the removal of lubricant mists and lubricant vapors from a compressed gas with the use of an oil filter and an adsorber.
In the compression of gases or gaseous mixtures, it is frequently necessary to obtain a high pressure gaseous stream free of lubricating oil. Otherwise, oil vapors or oil mists contained in the gas often prove to be troublesome, for example, by precipitating out as solids during a subsequent processing of the gas in a low-temperature installation, or also simply by being insufficiently pure compressed gas for a use where certain purities are required.
Therefore, it was necessary heretofore in many cases to resort to oil-free compressors during the compression step, since with the use of an oil-lubricated compressor the necessary purity of the gas cannot be provided even if the oil is separated by means of a filter system and oil vapors are removed by adsorbers. For with an oil separation by means of filter systems, a residual content of mist droplets still remains in the gas in all cases. This residual content which can amount, for example, to 1% of the originally present oil mist is hardly reduced even if an adsorber is connected into the system, since the adsorber is ineffective for the removal of such mist droplets. The use of oil-free compressors, on the otherhand, is disadvantageous because they are more expensive and have a higher attrition rate than oil-lubricated compressors.